Riding the Oregon Cascades Volcanic Arc (OCVA) bikepacking route to Bend, Oregon

I volunteer with NICA, training coaches and working with the league to put on races. I've also been a coach and a head coach. I've done it for a long time, since before my kids were old enough to participate. They're now in their late twenties. My wife works at NICA, and I believe in its mission of getting more kids on bikes, as a way to 'build strong minds, bodies, character, and community.' This year, 2026 the NICA National Conference would be in Bend, Oregon, a city my family and I have visited many times, a great place to be an outdoor enthusiast. My wife would go for work, and I'd attend as part of the NorCal League. Last October I did a seven-day bikepacking tour of the Oregon Outback bikepacking route with some friends. I went to bikepacking.com to see if there were some routes that would take a week, or less, to arrive in Bend. I reached out to my friend Adam, who lives in Bend, and has a lot more bikepacking experience than me, with a idea of using the Oregon Cascades…